


Boredom

by ToumeiKyoudai



Category: Original Work
Genre: Multi, Short Stories, writing prompts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-08-27 09:25:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8396305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToumeiKyoudai/pseuds/ToumeiKyoudai
Summary: Life can be happy, life can be sad. Life is experiences. This is just a short set of some of those ephemeral moments.
 
Based off of prompts on a writing prompt blog I found on Tumblr:http://writing-prompt-s.tumblr.com





	1. 10 000

**Author's Note:**

> _Writing Prompts Says:_
> 
>  
> 
> Every human is given their lifetime supply of “luck” to be used at their will. Some choose to expend it all at once on a massive success, and live the rest of their lives with no luck, some spread it out evenly and use luck on random small events.

In this world, everyone was equal; no person was any luckier than the next. Each child was born into the world with 10 000 ‘luck’, and that was their allotment in life. A person’s own luck could be spent however they chose, but once spent there was no way of regaining it.

Some chose to expend their luck all at once on a single massive success.

Others chose to spread their luck evenly throughout their lives on small events.

And there were others still that hoarded their luck their entire lives without once using it.

Clarance glanced down at the bold counter running up the inside of his forearm. 10 000. He slumped into the park bench with a relieved sigh. It always calmed him down knowing that he hadn’t wasted any of his luck and that he still had it for when he needed it.

He flipped over his arm to look at his watch. Only 23 more minutes until he had to be back in his office doing the same thankless, dead-end job he wasted away at every day of every year. But he wouldn’t waste a whole 700 luck to get a less mind numbing one - what if he needed that luck in the future? ‘What a waste!’ he would surely think to himself. He would curse his past self for being so wasteful. He prided himself in his foresight.

Pulling out his lunch, Clarance bit into the tasteless food. It was hardly enjoyable, but he didn’t let it bother him. One day, all of his sacrifices would be worth it.

That was the first day he saw her.

She wasn’t a beautiful girl. In fact, it was clear she had never wasted a single luck on her looks. Clarance would’ve approved of such foresight had it not been for what he witnessed next.

She crouched down in front of a wailing child and spoke to them. They whimpered something back, clawing at the locked luck on their arm. Clarance snorted. Of course a kid wanted to waste their luck on something stupid. This was why children’s luck was locked until they reached the age of majority.

But she just smiled and pointed to her own arm. The kid sniffled, but wiped their eyes. She took their hand and walked away.

By the time the two walked past again, Clarance was packing up his frugal lunchbox. The child was holding the leash of a small puppy now. They said a few things to her before dashing off down the street.

Clarance had never seen anything more beautiful than the expression she had as she smiled after the retreating child.

Even after returning to work, Clarance couldn’t get the image of her smile out of his mind. It was incredibly distracting, but he couldn’t find himself to dislike it. What had allowed her to make such an expression?

He had gone to the park the next day. Sure enough, she had appeared at the exact same time in the center of the park.

After a few minutes of searching, she suddenly hid behind a tree. Clarance couldn’t help but follow her with his eyes as she stalked a young couple walking hand in hand through the autumn leaves.

She looked so proud of herself after the two lovebirds kissed.

At first Clarance hadn’t understood why. But then he noticed that the number on her inner arm was a digit shorter than it had been the previous day. Every fiber of his being wanted to berate her for her wastefulness, but he was completely and utterly entranced by her.

Everyday she came to the park at the exact same time and everyday Clarance watched as she wasted her luck on everything from an elderly man’s surgery to a student’s midterm exams. Month after month, she came to the park and did the same thing over and over. It didn’t matter if it was pouring rain or freezing winds, she always found somebody to waste her luck on.

And she always made that same expression. That same beautiful expression. It didn’t matter how little or much luck she threw away, she always had that same expression.

He never understood why she did what she did. Maybe he never would.

One day, though, she didn’t come. Clarance had figured that she had gotten bored of whatever little game she was playing.

And then she didn’t show up the next day. Or the next.

After a week, Clarance decided to find her. He asked around until eventually he found an old woman that she played chess with each week. The old woman gave him address and a room number.

He hadn’t expected the taxi to take him to a hospital. He hadn’t expected to find her lying in a hospital bed. He hadn’t expected her to recognize him.

But she did.

She happily thanked the heavens that she still had 700 luck left. He told her that he didn’t want it. She just laughed.

He asked her how much luck she needed. She just laughed. Too much.

He explained that he had all the luck she could ever need. She just laughed. Not enough.

She smiled up at him with that beautiful smile. Her luck ran down to zero. He called her stupid. She laughed and agreed with him. He called her a moron. She laughed and agreed again. He said awful things to her. She just smiled.

He stormed out of hospital room.

Eventually, he went back to apologize. But by then, she was already gone.

It was a long while before he went back to the park. His life was much better now than it had been before, but somehow it felt hollow.

One day, though, he found himself in the park after mindlessly wandering. For old time’s sake, he sat in the same bench he always had and stared out at the people milling about their own business.

It felt empty without her.

“Excuse me, sir?” A child’s voice broke his trance. He looked over to see a little girl fighting to keep her voice composed. “Have you seen a puppy run past here?”

And slowly, his expression changed.

“No, but would you like help looking?” He pointed to his inner forearm and the kid’s eyes lit up. They bobbed their head maddly. The two of them walked off, hand in hand.

9 999.


	2. Welcome to the Edge of the World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just feeling down lately.

It’s a funny thing, standing on the edge of the world. There’s nothing there. You’d think someone would at least put up a sign or something. But no, there was no sign. There wasn’t a fence, either. You could just walk over to the very edge and curl your toes over the cliff face and point them into the nothingness below. There was nobody to tell you not to, after all.

That’s what I did. I curled my toes and tapped them against the vertical wall that seemed to have no end. In hindsight, it was kind of silly. But then again, if you aren’t there looking down, then all of it seems silly.

There’s a technique to it, you know? A technique to standing at the edge of the world. Nobody knows how to stand on the edge when they get there. There’s no sign, after all. Just a dirty cliff and a sharp drop into an endless nothingness. If you get too close, you’ll definitely fall. But, if you’ve been there before, then you know there’s no way to stop your feet from bringing you to that edge. It’s an art form to balance there without falling.

Sometimes the wind blows, stirring up the accumulated dust and spitting it into your eyes. It makes it hard to stay on the cliff, especially if you stand with your toes poking over the edge. Other times, there is no wind. Then it’s just you and the edge of the world. I was never sure which one was worse.

If you walk along the edge of the world, sometimes you can find notes along to way. These are from other people who have stood on the edge with their toes teasing the nothingness. All of them are just goodbye letters to the cliff they’ve come to know, sick of walking along it. Not everyone comes back from the edge of the world.

I didn’t want to come back from the edge of the world. It was just so exhausting walking along the edge and a path home was so hard to find. But I went home anyway. I didn’t go home for myself.

For the longest time, I forced myself to forget about what it was like to stand on the edge of the world. It might tempt me to go back there, I thought. And then one day, I realized…

There was still no sign at the edge of the world.

So I made one.

Now, it’s up to you. If you walk along the edge long enough, you will one day find a path home. It’s long and hard, but I know you can do it. And trust me, there will be a path. I don’t know how far you’ll have to walk to find it, but it’ll be there.

_You can do it._

 

~ The Sign Man


End file.
